Preparing for home dialysis

My husband is stage 4 (CKD for approx 13 years) and we are discussing preparing our house for home dialysis along with upcoming fistula surgery, etc.

Does anyone have experience with how to get your house ready? As an example, we have carpet throughout the main floor living area and are considering removing it and installing some type of water/stain resistant flooring. Is there a check list available on this site regarding house issues, or should we be in discussion with the Davita center staff?

Also, my husband works from a home office which we feel very fortunate about. Will he be able to work on his computer and talk on his cellphone while in the process of dialysizing at home?

We are looking for idea's and tips from home dialysis patients or others who have knowledge and experience with this as we get ready for the future. Anything we can do to be proactive helps me feel a little more in control.

Re: Preparing for home dialysis

Hello, and welcome!

I am not a hemo patient (I do PD), so I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of advice for you on this matter. However, there are many people on this site who will likely chime in, as they have a lot of experience and good advice.

You may also want to look up Gustine (a member and frequent contributor to this site), whom I believe has been on home hemo for quite some time and always has good advice and resources.

Good luck, and please continue to join everyone here as often as you need to.

Re: Preparing for home dialysis

Originally Posted by hd#1cg

My husband is stage 4 (CKD for approx 13 years) and we are discussing preparing our house for home dialysis along with upcoming fistula surgery, etc.

Does anyone have experience with how to get your house ready? As an example, we have carpet throughout the main floor living area and are considering removing it and installing some type of water/stain resistant flooring. Is there a check list available on this site regarding house issues, or should we be in discussion with the Davita center staff?
If you will train on Nxstage System One then the requirements are very low, it will workout almost on any part of the house. It depends what his goal is. For example, if he plans to do Nocturnal then I would suggest his bedroom where he sleeps. If he chooses Short Daily like I do then any room with at least 10x10 feet works well. You can use the closet for storage. You should have a bathroom nearby to run the drain line, all of the needed connections are supplied by Nxstage. In rare occasions you might need to buy additional fittings, but most likely not. As for carpeted house it would make your life easier if taken out in the area of the dialysis room. Another alternative is use those plastic computer mats and place it under the dialysis machine.... when you are approved for training they will stop by and inspect your house, so it will all be taken care of along the way.

Also, my husband works from a home office which we feel very fortunate about. Will he be able to work on his computer and talk on his cellphone while in the process of dialysizing at home?

Yes, he will be able to work from home and still use the laptop at the same time he's having dialysis, I do...

You know what I have been doing while dialyzing? I have been sending short tweets on twitter to people interested in home dialysis live... ...am sure both of you would enjoy that very much.

We are looking for idea's and tips from home dialysis patients or others who have knowledge and experience with this as we get ready for the future. Anything we can do to be proactive helps me feel a little more in control.

Another nice idea is to have a small refrigerator in the dialysis room, an emergency light, and a backup electric generator in case power goes out for 2 days or more. Your training center will explain all that to both of you, so your in good hands really.. no worries.

For some insight on the subject take a look at Alen's home dialysis video..

Re: Preparing for home dialysis

The one question I have with Allen's home video is "where is the blood pressure machine"? I always assumed you were supposed to be taking your blood pressure while dialysing. Or have they changed this procedure?

Per Davita's videos, the guy doing the NxStage home dialysing, is using a blood pressure cuff/machine on his non-fistula arm.

Re: Preparing for home dialysis

Hello Bikerchick,

Alen's video is NOT a training video and only gives brief descriptions of how he has his home dialysis setup at his home. Some people use the blood pressure cuff to help with cannulation, I don't. On the other hand am sure most of us on dialysis have the blood pressure cuff on during treatment while others only use it every 30min... The discomfort of having the blood pressure on all the time can also be a risk, so releasing it or loosening it can really save your arm from getting a clot.

Take a look at a longer home made video by Mr McDowell where he demos his own setup, he has nearly ten videos, but again word of warning that these home made videos of their dialysis setup are NOT training videos. The Enthusiasm they possess truly shows how empowered they are and their motivation that they want to share to people who want to start home dialysis how easy it is to care for yourself at home. Whats nice about all these videos is that each one is unique and different.

The one question I have with Allen's home video is "where is the blood pressure machine"? I always assumed you were supposed to be taking your blood pressure while dialysing. Or have they changed this procedure?

Per Davita's videos, the guy doing the NxStage home dialysing, is using a blood pressure cuff/machine on his non-fistula arm.

Re: Preparing for home dialysis

Thanks to all of you have responded for the great ideas and advice, and for the links to other resources. I hope to watch the videos this weekend.

I do believe my husband with be using NXstage and will train with Davita. We were very pleased to find out that there is a new center open within 45 miles of our home.

My husband has great doctors including a neph and has been on a low protein/CKD diet for a number of years which we believe kept him from these latter stages as long as it has along with meds, exercise, attitude and prayer. He became anemic within the past few months and has recently started taking Aranesp injections due to anemia and fatigue. They seem to help quite a bit for now. Fistula placement has been discussed to take place in the next few months so time to take some next steps for possible dialysis.

I really appreciate this forum and reading other questions/responses from people who have gone through some of this stuff already. Helps alot! Again thanks for the replies and info.

Re: Preparing for home dialysis

Rvrgypsy, This is the information I found beneficial to my situation. Great links to other resources and some folks passed on some great ideas that helped lesson the anxiety I was having about home dialysis. Hope this helps!

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